The state capital of Karnataka in southern India has long been renowned for its expertise in IT but tonight it will be able to add a more momentous line to its tourist brochure. At 8pm local time (3.30pm BST) Rahul Dravid of the Bangalore Royal Challengers and Sourav Ganguly of the Kolkata Knight Riders will lead their sides out at the M Chinnaswamy Stadium for the opening skirmishes of the multimillion-dollar Indian Premier League.

Whether you regard this as the start of a cricket revolution or the sporting equivalent of the emperor's new clothes, there is no denying the almost maniacal levels of expectation.

Some of the intricacies of staging a 59-game tournament in 44 days at eight venues have inevitably been lost in the bigger picture. What matters to the locals is their country's position at the forefront of the cricket world's consciousness. "India has been subservient for 100 years," said Lalit Modi, the IPL's commissioner. "People are used to dictating terms to us. We're just evening the playing field. And if it's our turn to have some glory, so much the better."

The world's best players, minus all but one Englishman, Dimitri Mascarenhas, are not inclined to take issue. The best-paid of the glittering army of overseas recruits, Andrew Symonds, will pocket $1.35m (£680,000) for six weeks' work, but questions about financial gain have been dead-batted all week by players who, unlike Kerry Packer's acolytes in the late 70s, were already well looked after. "I can think of worse jobs than playing cricket in the IPL," said Bangalore's New Zealand batsman Ross Taylor, a touch sheepishly.

That, though, is the nature of the IPL beast, and the talk on the streets has been of little else. Bangalore has hosted five Tests and seven ODIs in the past 10 years; now it will stage seven Twenty20 games in a little over five weeks. Huge billboards portray the cricketers as warriors and the multinational flavour of the event is reflected in the space given to the team's South African contingent of Jacques Kallis, Mark Boucher and Dale Steyn.

If that seems to go against the grain in this at times fervently patriotic land, then no one is quite sure how the crowds will take to cricket's latest incarnation. Although advance ticket sales at the Chinnaswamy, where the capacity is about 40,000, were going well yesterday, other venues have fallen short. Officials at Mohali's Punjab CA Stadium, home to the Punjab Kings XI, have boasted that they are down to their "last 15,000 tickets" but the ground holds only 25,000. Dravid seemed closer to the mark. "It's going to be up to the players," he said. "If they play a quality of cricket that people want to watch consistently over 44 days, then the IPL will succeed."

There can be no excuses for mediocrity, especially as many believe India's best players have had their eye on the IPL for rather too long. Their recent Test series against South Africa had the disconcerting whiff of an appetiser, and it did not go unnoticed that India's collapse to 76 all out on the first morning in Ahmedabad came shortly after the squad had returned from their starry-eyed IPL photoshoots. Their demise in exactly 20 overs was a gift for the cynics.

And yet for all the cash, hype and imported American cheerleaders, the IPL is desperate to be taken seriously too. This evening's opening ceremony will include a mid-pitch gathering of the eight franchise captains, who will read out a pledge in honour of the spirit of cricket. With Australia's presence a large one, organisers are keen to avoid a repetition of the antics that marred India's recent trip down under.

Naturally there have been teething problems. An ongoing disagreement over internet rights means cricket-specific websites will not be allowed into the grounds, and the Bollywood star Shahrukh Khan, owner of the Kolkata franchise, has reportedly been struggling to persuade the Bengali government that his team should be exempt from paying entertainment tax. There has also been criticism of the web-based sale of tickets in a nation more accustomed to queuing outside grounds; moreover the last-minute comings and goings of overseas players have threatened to denude the franchises of what little team ethos they had to start with.

But beneath the chaos lies the more fundamental question articulated by the former New Zealand captain Martin Crowe, who is here in the guise of Bangalore's chief cricket officer. "Is it a turning point in the history of the game?" he wondered. "That's probably a little bit extreme, but Twenty20 has established itself sitting alongside 50-over cricket and Test cricket.

"The idea of a franchise competition is unique to cricket. We've already seen Twenty20 around the world in various domestic competitions but this takes it a step up. I think that's what gets you excited, to be able to see all that unfold. The IPL is certainly going to be around for a long time. It's only going to get bigger."

Just how much bigger will depend on the success of the next few weeks. The ECB's chairman, Giles Clarke, and chief executive, David Collier, are in town to take notes, but this competition goes way beyond the possible formation of an English Premier League. By the time the final is staged in Mumbai on June 1, it will be a surprise if cricket ever feels quite the same again.